This is quite possible the strangest credit union marketing campaign I have ever seen. The Credit Unions of Washington State have banned together to hire Carl Weathers to wax on about change. The actor is most famous for his role as Apollo Creed in the Rocky movies. Watch the videos on the Change is Beautiful microsite to see what I am talking about.
After viewing all of the videos, I honestly don't know if this one is weird-good or just weird-weird. What I do know is that it is different and that the Credit Unions of Washington should be congratulated for sticking their necks out there. The fact that this creative made it through a committee environment is very admirable, if not downright unbelievable. Approving edgy work takes collective courage!
I have a couple of easy suggestions that might make the campaign more successful.
Suggestion 1: Embed videos from a video sharing site like YouTube, Vimeo or Viddler rather than locking the videos down in a closed player. This choice to block others from discovering the videos randomly or sharing the videos on their own websites or blogs will limit the campaign's chances of gaining widespread popularity (I've been told I shouldn't use the V word). Perhaps Mr. Weathers contract didn't permit this type of usage.Suggestion 2: Since this campaign is designed to get people talking, why not let them talk? Include a simple mechanism for people to post comments or their own Change is Beautiful stories.
Here is some more background information on the thinking behind the campaign. Will this oddball approach be successful? It has garnered some positive local media coverage, but time will tell if Apollo really fairs better against the bank world than he did against Rocky Balboa.
What do you think?
Tim